In what is believed to be a setback to Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday struck down the controversial GO No. 123 issued by his government on acquiring land without following the mandatory Land Acquisition Act of 2013.
The High Court felt that there was no need to acquire land through an administrative order, when the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 was already in place.
It agreed with the petitioners that the GO 123 sought to compensate the land owners alone and did not pay heed to the landless labour who worked the land for their livelihood.
The High Court ordered that the compensation must be awarded according to the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 alone.
The government had brought out GO. 123 through which it made settlements for acquiring private land from farmers. Dissatisfied with many ‘loopholes’ in the GO 123, certain farmers from Rudrangi in Karimnagar approached the High Court.
The court’s order will most likely put the Telangana government on the back foot as it will have repercussions on the land acquisition for Mallannasagar and other such projects.
